I suddenly remembered the day we test-drove the wedding cars.
He'd been sitting in the back seat of the lead car, smiling as he asked me, "When the day comes and I bring you out of your house, are you going to cry?"
I said I wouldn't.
My mother laughed beside us and said no bride ever made it out the door without crying.
Back then I thought the first time this car parked downstairs would be the day he came to pick me up.
But today, the lead car's location stopped at Nora's place first.
The wedding coordinator sent another message.
【Miss Fox, fifteen minutes until the auspicious hour. If we're resuming the pickup, we need confirmation now.】
Daniel saw it on his end too.
"Just let them go ahead as planned."
"I'll be there in ten minutes at most. Have your parents come down first. Don't give the relatives something to laugh about."
I held the phone and said nothing.
He called my name again.
"Nanette, be good."
"I'm almost there. If you cancel the pickup now, your parents will lose face."
My mother finally stood up.
She walked to the bedroom doorway, took the red veil down from where it hung on the door handle, folded it, and put it away in a drawer.
My father saw, and didn't stop her.
I said into the phone, "What you think looks bad is the pickup being called off."
"When my parents were standing downstairs waiting for you, you didn't think that looked bad?"
Daniel went quiet.
Nora spoke up again, softly. "Danny, maybe I should move to the other car. Don't fight with Nanette over this."
His voice shot up.
"Nanette, let's just finish the ceremony. Don't hold up our wedding over something this small."
In the wedding group chat, the coordinator sent another line.
【The groom's car is expected downstairs in five minutes. Please have the bride get ready to come down.】
I looked at that line and took the phone away from my ear.
Daniel was still calling for me inside it.
"Nanette?"
I didn't answer.
I only opened the wedding chat and watched the text box light up.
As the text box lit up, a horn blared downstairs.
Yuki ran to the window and looked down, and her face changed at once.
"The car's here."
My mother stood in the bedroom doorway, still holding the red veil she'd just folded.
My father didn't go to the window. He only asked, "Who's in the car?"
Yuki stared through the glass for a long moment before she said, anger held down low, "Nora's in it too."
The phone rang again. Daniel was calling.
This time I picked up.
"Nanette, I'm downstairs."
He didn't wait for me to speak. He kept going.
"Stop this, all right?"
"If your parents are still angry, I'll come up and apologize to them. Just come down first. The auspicious hour is almost gone."
I walked to the window.
The red lead car was parked below, the doors still shut.
Nora sat in the back by the window, holding a spare bouquet in her arms.
When she saw me looking down, she immediately shifted the flowers off to one side.
Daniel stood beside the car, one button of his suit undone, looking up at our window.
The lead car my parents had waited for all morning, with Nora sitting in the back seat.
Daniel spoke again. "Nanette, get your parents to come down first."
"If they won't get in the car, it'll look bad at the hotel later too."
I asked, "You still think I'm the one who needs to come down and explain?"
"That's not what I meant."
"Your parents are still upstairs, and the relatives have all arrived. Just come down first. Don't make everyone look bad."
When my mother heard that, a corner of the red veil slipped from her hand.
She took one step toward the door without thinking, then stopped.
I stopped her.
"Mom, there's no need to go down."
